356 DISQUISITIONS on t/je 



oiigin of it may be found in the word fore j and upon examina- 

 tion I think it will be found, that for in Enghili, and rroo in 

 Greek, and pro in Latin, as well as the German vor or far, means, 

 in its radical fenfe, pofiiion before ; with this difference only, that 

 in Latin, Engliih, and German, the word denoting the fore ob- 

 jed generally follows the prepofition, b\it in Greek precedes it. 

 In Engliih, therefore, the prepofition y^'r may be always taken a? 

 meaning fimply objetl. Sublfitute objeEl in all the phrafes in 

 which the author of the Diverftons ofPurley has put caufe as the 

 meaning oi for, and it is eafy to obferve how naturally and ex- 

 ad ly the fentences may be refolved. 



n^o? is evidently a prepofition of very extenfive application, 

 and in inveftigatlng its original meaning, a variety of opinions 

 have prevailed'. Dr Moor refolved it into -r^o and «;, and fup- 

 pofed that it denoted properly in the fore fpace of. Scheide 

 afcribes to it a meaning fomewhat fimilar, deducing it from rra,- 

 ^oi, before. Both thefe derivations, however, are unfatisfadlory. 

 In fome of the modes in which cr^os is ufed, the idea of before 

 may indeed be traced ; but, in others, it cannot, I think, with- 

 out the mod violent flraining, be difcovered. It will be necef- 

 fary, therefoiie, to look out for a different origin, and one carry- 

 ing with it an'ldea more confonant to the fignification and ufes 

 of the prepofition. This, I think, can only be found in the 



noun. 



ing could here be afSgned to — " caufe, nothing ?" " He is tall yb/- his age,"— 

 " caufe, his age," would denote fomething quite different from what is intended. 

 " For a good harveft, a good fummer is neceflary," — " caufe, a good harveft," 

 ■would completely invert the meaning, making the effedt the caufe. " He lived 

 " thereybr twenty years," — " caufe, twenty years," would be unintelligible. In 

 thefe inftances, takingyb^ to mean ohjeB placed before, or ohjeEt in tiiew, the fenfe 

 is obvious. The fame may be faid of fuch phrafes as the fol wing : " He is a 

 " good manybj- ought I know," — " he is a good man, — ohjeB, or put in obje£lion, 

 " ought I know," an eafy and plain refolution ; whereas, " caufe, ought I know," 

 would be extremely forced, if not altogether unmeaning. 



